The Book of the Raven: Corvids in Art and Legend

by Angus Hyland, Caroline Roberts

Corvids play an outsize role in the human imagination. We keep ravens in towers, emblazon rooks on banners, find crows in the constellations, and make sure to salute solitary magpies. We also see our own behavior mirrored in this diverse family of birds, who are tricksters and thieves as well as problem-solvers and gift-givers.

This beautifully designed book showcases the visual and literary life of the corvid, from Norse legends to Game of Thrones. It includes beautiful and darkly seductive photographs and paintings as well as texts and poems in which they play a starring role and information about the traits that make them so intriguing to us.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Nature, History, Birds, Animals, Poetry

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love ravens. Always have. They are such intelligent and gorgeous creatures and often get a bad rep (mostly for religious reasons which makes me like them even more by default).

In 2018, I met the Tower ravens in London and fell in love with their quirky personalities, the way they entertained the tourists (or made fun of us?) without ever having been trained. Ravens' curiosity and ingenuity are fascinating.

This book is like a giant love letter to corvids. It references all manner of literary mentions from Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem to GRRM's take. Poems, short stories, novels, essays ... there are many authors who have been just as fascinated with these birds as I am and their works of art are either sampled or reproduced in full here. Moreover, there are historical pieces (giving info about ravens playing a part in mythology or "magic") and real-life encounters of famous people with a raven (most noteably, Charles Dickens).

Mostly, however, this is a visual nod to the love for corvids of all kind so here are some exemples of the images that make this book so gorgeous:








A wonderful book of high quality that contains intriguing information as well as often breathtaking artwork.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the art, which ranges from the well-known (Van Gogh) to the recent and obscure and includes etchings, paintings and photographs, and wood carvings. The text was less illuminating, relying on some very familiar points of reference like Aesop’s fables, Norse myths, Poe’s “The Raven,” and so on. It’s slightly confusing that the authors decided to lump all corvids together as it suits them, so they include legends and poems associated with crows and magpies as well as ravens. Most pieces are only one page and have an image facing, as well as at least two pages of wordless spreads between them. There are also shorter quotations embedded in some of the illustrations. Gothic font abounds and there is an overall black, white and red colour scheme. I was glad to be reminded that Charles Dickens’s pet raven, Grip III, was stuffed and is now in display in the Free Library of Philadelphia – that will be a sight to seek out on my next trip there. I also enjoyed learning about Jimmy, a Hollywood raven who appeared in over 1,000 films between 1938 and 1954, including It’s a Wonderful Life. This was a Christmas gift, and a fun enough coffee table read.

[Judith van Wijk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to review this book as it’s short fragments of all kinds of books and poems and a lot of photos and paintings. Very nice photos and paintings though about a very cool bird.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

With thousands of new books published each year it’s impossible to keep up with them all. That’s why visiting bookstores is so essential. I wouldn’t have known about The Book of the Raven if I hadn’t been in my local indie over the weekend. As I mention in my blog post (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World), I don’t spend nearly enough time appreciating art. This book is full of art and poetry and literary snippets about corvids.

The artwork is fantastic. Evocative, moody, and intelligent, it manages to capture a small sample of the life of a corvid. Although titled after the raven, it has plenty about crows, and a bit about magpies and jays. Corvids are intelligent on a scale with great apes, whales, and elephants. They are truly amazing birds. Artists and writers have been inspired by them for centuries. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is included in its entirety, but even Poe learned of ravens from Charles Dickens. More recent writers have taken up the banner as well.

This is a book for an unrushed afternoon. It’s important to take the time to look at the art and feel how it interacts with the words. There’s not a ton of text. The Book of the Raven is the kind of tome that should remind publishers that paper is the proper medium for books. While this can be reduced to XML, it, like ravens, is so much more. That afternoon will not be wasted.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book, exactly what it says on the tin.

[Tracey Allen at Carpe Librum · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Book of the Raven - Corvids in Art & Legend by Caroline Roberts and Angus Hyland is a beautiful collection of artwork, poetry and short chapters about corvids and ravens in art and legend.

Beginning with an introduction and first chapter written by Chris Skaife, Ravenmaster, HM Tower of London was a master stroke. You might remember I thoroughly enjoyed his memoir The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London .

If you're not terribly knowledgeable about birds, corvids include crows, ravens, rooks and magpies; although technically not Australian magpies, due to a lack of nasal bristles.

"When ravens get together it's an unkindness, but get a bunch of crows together and it's murder..." Page 109

I enjoyed learning more about corvids and their appearance in art and literature across time, with some memorable mentions including: Charles Dickens and his beloved raven Grip; The Lord of the Rings; Edgar Allan Poe and his famous poem The Raven; Alfred Hitchcock; the curse of The Crow movie; of course the Brothers Grimm; and A Game of Thrones.

"It may come as a surprise, especially given the often fairly dark myths that surround them, that ravens are very playful creatures, having fun with their fellow birds or sometimes just amusing themselves." Page 79

I mean, who hasn't seen the footage of a raven sliding down a rooftop on a piece of plastic over and over?

While enjoying the gothic graphics and moody artworks included, I was frustrated many times trying to locate the applicable captions, concluding that many of the pages lack adequate credits. This is a real shame for those artists lucky enough to have their artworks included in this collection.

"Ravens have a long association with both war and death - they are carrion birds, often picking over the remains after battles had taken place. The Vikings considered a croaking raven outside a house to be a warning of the imminent death of its occupant." Page 98

The author goes on to explain that Viking raiders used ravens to help find land, inspiring the raven banner flown by Viking warlords. These banners remained in use long after the Vikings had departed and can be seen in two panels of the Bayeux Tapestry. Fascinating!

My reading highlight enjoying The Book of the Raven was without a doubt reading The Raven poem by Edgar Allen Poe aloud at home for my husband. Having only read it to myself in the past, I have renewed respect and appreciation for the rhythm of the language and complexity of the lines, in the same way I enjoy the lyrics in The Phantom Of The Opera Companion .

Presented in an A5 sized softcover, I dearly wish Caroline Roberts and Angus Hyland were given more scope to expand this collection and delve deeper into the historical significance in the way author Michel Pastoureau was able to in Black: The History of a Color .

Conceived and designed by Angus Hyland and written by Caroline Roberts, The Book of the Raven - Corvids in Art & Legend was an enjoyable read and also the first book I've read from my 8 Books on my TBR with Birds on the Cover post, earlier this year.

If you'd like a sneak peak at the artwork inside, you can do so via the author's design studio website Pentagram. Enjoy!

[Bookworm With a B · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for a wonderful book. I picked this up for my local library's winter reading challenge and I love it. The mix of history, modern culture, myth, and art was inspired. I wish there were a part 2 that went more into the myths and legends surrounding corvids. The only thing that I would change would be with the formatting of the book. Some of the artwork isn't labeled at all and I wish that wasn't the case. I will definitely be adding this to my personal library and checking out other books in this collection.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful collection of extracts, facts, poems, photos, art, and illustrations set around the group of birds known as the Corvids that includes ravens, crows, magpies, and jays. This is an ideal gift for anyone with a passion for this group, as it was for me, and while I may have read it in one evening is still is sitting beside my bed ready for me to delve back in again.

[Nick Swarbrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A celebration? An anthology? This is a marvellous little book, something to read at a a rush or to take a section at a time or to dip into. Beautiful artwork from C18th English woodcuts to C19th Japanese paintings and much more recent photographs of ravens and other corvids are at the heart of this collection, and there are one-liners from Ted Hughes as well as the whole of Poe’s Raven. This offers all sorts of brief insights into all sorts of corvids, focussing most on the Raven. Perhaps five stars because of its glorious subjects, perhaps the edge taken off it because the small-print credits could (should) have been a bibliography for further exploration... No, it gets five stars because of its lyrical pattern of image and text, crows in flight and at rest, funny crows, solemn crows, menacing crows. I love it!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books that are a combination of art and literature on a theme. This one is mostly about ravens and crows, although magpies are in there a bit. The art is stunning and has inspired some of my own, far less stunning, work. The text is fascinating. I didn’t know that the Tower of London had a dedicated Ravenmaster. Or that there was one day during the filming of Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ when there were a dozen crew members in hospital with bites or scratches. And that’s because Hitchcock had intended to use mechanical birds, couldn’t because they looked fake, so 300 wild birds were trapped and trained to get used to the lights and the stage set. But they were still wild birds and a terrifying experience for many of the crew.

[Heidi Hanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is gorgeous! I loved reading it, gazing at the photos and artwork, reading the reflections and poetry. It is truly a work of art. My only disappointment was in the lack of reference to Celtic and Native American raven lore. While Odin was mentioned once and there was a reference to the Crow tribe of North America, a huge opportunity was missed by not mentioning connections such as with The Morrigan, Bran the Blessed and the beautiful stories from Native American and First Nation folklore. I still give it 5 stars but so wished Mr. Hyland had painted with a broader brush.

[Wendelle]

I learned quite a lot about the interesting creatures, ravens, in this brief book, I learned that they are loyal partners (mate for life), loyal friends (coming back to generous humans that fed them to shower them with gifts of trinkets, such as buttons, earrings and paperclips), loyal flocks (they tell their friends about the bounty of food they found from a human). They're also clever creatures who fashion tools out of wire and twigs, to make toys to play with! And they also like rolling in snow. I didn't realize these birds of doom, as they are often depicted, have their reputations warped by human-imposed lens. If you want a handy book full of crow art and trivia, this book is recommended.

[stefiereads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it in one sitting.
This book just added my adoration to our corvids fam ♥
If you love birds, this is something you have to add into your collection. Full of facts, stories, arts about raven, crows, magpie, etc.
Intelligent birds! ♥️

[Anne Farrer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small coffee table book featuring beautiful corvid artwork and little snippets of poetry, mythology and prose about them. Delightful. Wish it was even more comprehensive.
But the perfect book with which to hit my 35 books/year reading goal. Well done, me.

[Jessica McKenney]

A completely random find at a local bookstore, which was quite enjoyable. I honestly just love all of the crow artwork, and there was some fun anecdotes. It’s a good flip through, coffee table style book.

[holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

if corvids have zero fans I'm dead!!

[Helen Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully published with some astonishing art and pictures but the legend was very briefly brushed over and not discussed in depth!

[Maria Dedelis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully composed book about corvids in literature, art, legends and the film industry. Breathtaking photographs and artworks from all over the world interlaced with poems, proverbs and anecdotes make up an extraordinary volume.

[Seth Rockafella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must have to any and all who love Covids.

[Blue ✘]

Enjoyed‎‎‎‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ₊⊹⁀➴ 3
─..★.──────────

Cute little book of corvids - I don't think I really learnt a lot from this but more than half of it was art and the visual experience was worth it. I think I would have preferred it if there was more mythology pages and fewer extracts from modern literature. I was definitely expecting more history and folklore.

This one would make a nice gift for anyone who is into artbooks or collected poetry.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very self-indulgent read. Purchased because I had heard somebody from Pentagram did the editorial design for the book. It was very nice seeing the clean layout for the spreads and how they kept the flow of the book throughout. The snippets of information and excerpts were also intriguing to read about.

[Neveen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in love with the illustrations and art added. However, I wish if they have included more facts.

[Maria Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were common myths that were missed and I was expecting more historic art rather than the modern pieces that the book focused on.

[Alex (Spells & Spaceships) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book to treasure.

Some gorgeous pictures, facts and poems fill this well-presented book which is a must for all admirers of corvid-kind.

[Silvan Loher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars because of the beautiful design of the book - as an anthology of corvids in art, it is very beautiful and satisfying - there are paintings, drawings, etchings, photographies, all printed in good quality on thick paper.

Unfortunately, the texts don't hold the same quality. The different excerpts from literary works and poems (most notable, of course, Poe's "The Raven") are nice to have collected, but I missed the information when the various texts are from - and for the shorter quotations, there is only the name of the author but no indication as to the source of the quotation. Of course, the year of the quoted texts and the dates of birth and death of the quoted authors should be given.

The informative texts are very short and therefore rather superficial. There is some interesting bits of information about the behaviour of crows and ravens, but there are no source indications whatsoever, and no bibliography at the end either. This is a serious drawback, because it makes it impossible to verify where the author took these bits of information from.

Still, a very beautiful book that is nice to look and entertaining to read. Perfect for some short reads when you want to unwind and escape into the world of corvids. I have always dreamed of a pet raven; now even more...

[Rafa Willisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and visually rich exploration of one of the most misunderstood and symbolically loaded bird families in human history. Through its pages, the book offers a deep dive into how ravens and other corvids—crows, magpies, and jays—have appeared in myths, folklore, and visual art across cultures and centuries.

What stands out most while reading is just how intelligent these birds are. The book doesn’t just mention their cleverness in passing—it gives real weight to their cognitive abilities, highlighting stories, scientific observations, and symbolic representations that reveal their problem-solving skills, memory, and adaptability. It becomes impossible not to admire their wit and resilience.

At the same time, the book sheds light on how negatively corvids have often been perceived. They are frequently associated with death, mischief, and omens, cast as tricksters or symbols of doom. This tension—between their true brilliance and the shadowy symbolism imposed on them—is what makes the book so compelling. It invites a rethinking of long-held assumptions and offers a more nuanced appreciation of these birds, both in art and in reality.

For anyone interested in animals, mythology, or the intersections of nature and culture, The Book of the Raven is a rewarding and thought-provoking read.

[Sarah Morgan Sandquist · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book much more than I was able. I deducted one star for shallow information that more often dealt with film and science than legend. Although that sort of info is interesting, I don't think intelligence experiments with crows really fits the theme as promised by the title. There wasn't really enough content for this sort of info to belong.

I deducted another star for the author's wacky, quippy tone. Jokes along the lines of, 'remember, cutting off fingers only works in fairy tales!' Really broke the mood, weren't funny and again, there just wasn't enough content to justify the brief asides.

However the art and photography featured were lovely and included more than the standards one might expect. I definitely don't regret reading the book, but it wasn't up to the standard I expected.

[Jo Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been fascinated by corvids. Growing up in Alaska, ravens were a common sight and their antics and interactions left no doubt that there was an intelligent mind and a bit of mischief at play. Here in WA, we seem to have been adopted by a crow couple. They bathe in our bird baths, sample the peanuts and assorted nuts we leave out, and lounge in the sun on the outlying tree branches.

This book is a keeper, it captures the fun side of corvids as well as their elegance and a bit of their mystery. There are quotes from well known literature and gorgeous renderings and photography of ravens and especially crows. I highly recommend the read both for the writing and the images. It was as delight to read.

[James Frase-White · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has taken me months to read this book--well not JUST read. For it is also a book of incredible images, tales, facts, poem and stories about these magnificent winged earth angels. I have found myself wondering of, daubing drawings, little paintings, pencil, ink, making new paper cutting and reviewing ones I have done. And yes, rereading it again, and again. One flies above this desk, with a flock of black birds that already grace the slanted ceiling above me. I thank my dear friend Eileen, who sent this treasure to me, to help as I healed from my wintertime heart operations. This book is a treasure, I can tell you no more, except open it, savor and fly the sky with it.

[Squidhat1989 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a musing on corvids, so mostly pictures, paintings, quotes, and poems. I really find these passion projects rather lovely. Its like getting a chance to flip through someone's scrapbook. Its not a hefty read by any stretch. The longest thing in it is the introduction and a reprint of Poe's The Raven so its not at all long. One could spend a pleasant afternoon flipping through and musing on our dark hued feathered friends. The book is very pretty, has beautiful full color pictures and is lovingly arranged.